Kawi2strokes.com Forum

In addition to working on triples, I like old iron and help out at Rough & Tumble in Kinzers Pa at the working museum. The piston ring I'm holding is out of a 1913 vintage 485 hp Cooper engine that developed 21,000 ft lbs of torque. It was originally run on natural gas and was a pump for moving natural gas thru the pipelines. This engine plus an additional six others were in Medina Ohio.

Here's me with the piston ring


The single flywheel is 14' in diameter and weighs 22,000 lbs. It has a 21-1/2" bore and a 36" stroke and is a "Tandem Double Acting" each pair of pistons has it's own cylinder casting and cooled in the center.

View from the front ( click for bigger pics)




A couple pics of the compressor




Here's how you bring an engine that weighs 150,000 lbs to TDC so you can start it. It's started with compressed air , 165 psi fed thru 2" steel pipe. The guy pumping is priming the oiling system.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mvBQSYRBzdA

Here's it's running on propane. Both ends and the center are saddle mounted to support the weights of the piston assembles. The large eccentrics run the intake valves on the top and the exhaust on the bottom
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1jLYz9TtTY

Here's a view of the ignition system and the smaller eccentrics for the oiling.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUaLLfqZx9U

Here's one I took two weeks ago from the flywheel side. If you listen closely, you can hear when the air is switched off and it starts running on propane ( just a few seconds after the video starts)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVYq8DO8L_k

Jeff

Dude, you are tiny..........

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Twist the throttle, tilt the horizon, and have a great time. What triples are all about...........

I'm almost 6' tall, it's just HUGE

Jeff, that is just WICKED cool!!!

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This is true. Where I grew up the hills were so steep and long, when your ball rolled down the hill you just said "screw it"...

There was a lot of work that went into saving this engine and getting it running.

http://www.roughandtumble.org/cooperengineproject

For days I skipped this post thinking this wouldn't be all that cool.
Wrong again; what an amazing piece of equipment; had to be way ahead of it's time.
Good on you and others for maintaing history
No substitute for displacement!

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There are only two types of motor sport racing:
Nitro and everything else
(Sometimes referred to as fast and slow)

Never heard of the rough and tumble, ggood to know might find a way to check it out

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1975 S3 project bike
1974 H1 project bike
1972 Yamaha R5
1974 Yamaha RD350

click on the website ----> http://www.roughandtumble.org <------- and look at the schedule on the right side.

If you can only make it down for one show, make it 8/13/2014 to 8/16/2014 for the 66th Thresherman's Reunion. It's their big show and all the attractions are going full tilt.

They have a lot of very cool machinery there. They have one of about five of the original combustion engine there and it runs. Even the one the Smithstonian has doesn't run. ( they blew it up )

It is surprisingly quiet !